Vengeance
by 24addict89
Summary: Complete. Time is running out in the investigation into Volchok's death but what will happen to Luke and Ryan? Warnings: contains extreme violence and strong language in Chapter 3
1. Vengeance

**Summary: Several past characters (Luke, Alex, Jimmy and Anna) return for Marissa's funeral. Afterwards, Luke offers to help Ryan get justice**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The OC, Josh Schwartz does**

**Characters: All permanent Season 4 cast, plus returning characters mentioned above**

**A/N: If Season 4 had been longer, I think this would have been a great storyline**

It was the day that everyone had been dreading, the day when they would say goodbye to Marissa. The lives of several people had fallen apart. Julie had become addicted to prescription drugs to help her deal with her grief. Meanwhile, her marriage to Neil was as close to breaking point as you can get. Ryan went a whole month without seeing anyone. He went back to Chino to try and deal with it, but he realised he needed to be back in Newport, at least for the funeral.

Seth and Summer had also been hit hard. They had both put off college as they couldn't face it at that point. Jimmy had left his boat after hearing the news. He was even considering moving back to Newport permanently to support Julie and Kaitlin.

There was a ring of the doorbell at the Cohen's. Ryan decided to answer the door and was pleased to see that it was Luke. "Hey man, I got here as soon as I could, I only heard a couple of days ago" said Luke, seemingly with tears in his eyes. Ryan, who was still in shock himself, replied: "Marissa would be pleased to see you, come in". Later that day Anna and Alex also returned.

At the funeral, Jimmy gave a moving eulogy to his daughter. In it he said: "You don't need me to tell you what a great girl Marissa was, because you all already know. It was a privilege to have her as my daughter. She always had a smile on her face and was always kind to everyone, except occasionally her parents. Rest in peace baby, we'll never forget you". As he sat down, Sandy patted him on the back and said: "Well said". The parents comment brought an ironic smile to Julie's face. After all, she hadn't exactly been the model mother.

The other person to speak was Ryan. He said: "I only knew Marissa for three years, but those were the best three years of my life. Before I met her I was a kid from Chino with no direction in life, but she gave me that. She gave me a reason to think something of myself. Marissa, if you're listening. I love you and I always will".

At the wake afterwards, Luke asked Ryan how Marissa died, so he explained it to him. I was driving her to the airport to see her dad. This guy named Volchok, her ex-boyfriend, rammed into the car repeatedly and eventually sent it off the road. I pulled her away but there was nothing I could do for her, she died in my arms".

After this, Luke said: "You want to nail this Volchok guy right?" "Yeah of course I do" Ryan replied. Luke then said back to Ryan: "Then I'm gonna help you. I want to help you nail this guy and make him pay for what he did to Marissa. After all, I did love her too". After getting assurance from Luke that he was sure he really wanted to do it, Ryan agreed. He was pretty sure the two of them together would be able to sort Volchok out. However, they weren't strictly speaking alone. After she heard there plan, Julie revealed she had hired a Private Investigator to figure out where Volchok went. They took the file and vowed to make Volchok pay for Marissa's death.

They told Seth and Summer what they were going to do. Summer tried to put them off, saying: "I know you want to get him but this guy is dangerous". Ryan then quipped: "Luke also has a great right hook, as I should know". At this remark, Luke said: "I seemed to remember Chino's right hook's pretty good too, after all we both have a lot of experience when it comes to beating the crap out of people".

It was pretty obvious that nothing anyone could say would change there minds. The information in the file suggested he was in Mexico. Therefore, the next day they would get a plane to Mexico and try to find him.

Please Review and leave any ideas for how to develop the story


	2. Manhunt

Ryan and Luke touched down in Mexico. They had an idea of roughly where Volchok was meant to be from the file Julie had given them. He had been working in a bar in Tijuana, the same bar Marissa went to three years before after she found out about Luke's affair with Holly and took an overdose.

They went up to the bar and Luke said to the barman. "Hi were looking for a guy called Kevin Volchok we were told he works here". The barman, while cleaning a glass, replied: "Yeah he did work here but I fired his ass a couple of weeks ago, lazy ass barely ever worked when he did turn up". Ryan then said to him. "Do you have any idea where he went, it's really important that we find him". "Sorry" replied the barman "I ain't seen him since I fired him and if I did ever see him again it would be too soon".

Ryan and Luke left the bar frustrated. They looked at the file to see if there were any clues as to Volchok's whereabouts. They decided the best thing to do would be to check local bars and hotels to try and track him down. After all, a wanted criminal can't have got that far in two weeks, even if he was in a different country. They kept asking people the same question but kept getting the same answer. "Sorry, I haven't seen him" or something along those lines. Eventually they went back to their hotel room for the night, deciding to continue the search for him in the morning. They weren't going to give up until they had tracked him down.

Ryan suggested they checked the local police station. Luke agreed, saying: "That probably should have been the first place we looked". They asked at the police station and although the policeman hadn't seen him, he was keen to talk. They conducted an interview which went like this:

Policeman: Why are you keen to speak to Mr Volchok?

Luke: He is responsible for the death of a friend of ours, Marissa Cooper, in Newport in America

Policeman: How is he responsible?

Ryan: I was driving Miss Cooper to the local airport, Mr Volchok ran my car off the road. She died a few minutes later

Policeman: Could you give me a description of Mr Volchok?

Ryan: About his height (pointing to Luke), shaven headed, wearing a wife beater, quite well built

Policeman: Thank you gentlemen, I will circulate this description to my colleagues and keep you informed of any developments

Luke: Thank you officer, this means a lot to us

They may have had a breakthrough, now the police in both Newport and Tijuana were after him. Surely he was going to be tracked down soon. Later on they went into the pub they had originally gone into the day before and were approached by a young, dark-haired woman who said to them: "I know the guy you're looking for". Luke said: "Do you know where we can find him?" The woman then gave them the name of the hotel and number of the room where Volchok was staying. Ryan then said: "Thank you very much" before he and Luke quickly left to find the hotel.

When they got to the hotel they asked the woman on reception: "We're looking for a guy named Kevin Volchok, we were told he is staying here". The receptionist checked through here records and said to them: "Yes, he is staying in Room Number 26, just down the hallway". This was the same number they had been given by the woman in the bar. The receptionist also confirmed he was in his room at that moment. They finally had him exactly where they wanted him, now Volchok had nowhere left to hide. Ryan and Luke were about to get revenge for what he had done to Marissa. They didn't have any weapons with them, they didn't need them.

They stood outside the door and Luke knocked on the door. A voice from inside said: "Come in". Ryan nodded to Luke in conformation that was Volchok. They then stormed in and stood in the doorway. Volchok looked up and noticed Ryan and Luke standing there. "Well well, if it isn't the lil' bitch, I see you've bought a friend with you". Ryan kicked the door shut behind him and said: "I've waited a long time for this" before aiming a punch at Volchok, knocking him to the ground….


	3. Final Showdown

Warning: This chapter contains extreme violence and strong language throughout, it is probably not suitable for those aged under 15, 13 if you are VERY mature

Just after Ryan had kicked the door shut, Luke locked it. After all, they didn't want anyone walking in and seeing what was about to happen.

Luke just stood there, staring at Volchok as he was lying on the ground. Ryan kicked him just after he went down. Volchok got up after a few seconds and punched Ryan flat in the face, knocking him to the ground. At this point, Luke stepped in. He grabbed the neck line of Volchok's wife beater and yelled at him: "This is for Marissa you murdering bastard". "It was his fault" Volchok yelled, pointing at Ryan "If he hadn't got involved Marissa would still be alive. This comment infuriated Ryan and he launched himself at Volchok.

Ryan punched him several times. This seemed to knock Volchok out, as he was bleeding quite heavily. "Let's get out of here" Luke shouted at Ryan. They went for the door but they heard a gunshot, Volchok had quickly come to and pulled a gun out of his pocket. "Don't think you bitches are getting away from me" He said staring straight at them "At least not alive anyway.

Luke and Ryan had no idea Volchok had a gun on him. Ryan went to grab the gun and grabbed it. He and Volchok tried to grab the gun off each other and it fired, the bullet fired into the wall and narrowly missed Luke by a few inches. "Holy shit!" Luke thought to himself. He'd already been shot once before and was terrified after coming close to it happening again. Ryan grabbed the gun and threw it out of the window, shattering the glass.

Volchok went to grab Ryan around the neck but Luke hauled him onto the bed. The pair traded punches until Volchok got Luke in an arm lock. As Luke was struggling to get away Ryan grabbed the nearest thing he could find, which was an empty bottle of vodka, and aimed it at Volchok, hitting him on the side of the head. Before he did it he yelled: "This is for Marissa!" He loosened his grip on Luke and feel onto the bed. He started bleeding heavily.

Luke leapt off the bed and said to Ryan: "We need to get out of here fast". With that Ryan unlocked the door and the pair ran away, escaping out the back so no-one saw them. They hid behind a bush as Luke dialled for an ambulance. After that they headed back to their hotel, which was fairly close to the hospital. They knew if they lay low for a couple of days then they might be able to cover their tracks.

Two and a half hours later….

A news report came on television with the headline: "CAR CRASH SUSPECT FOUND DEAD". The newsreader said: "A young man who is wanted by police in California in connection with the death of a student has been found dead. The man, Kevin Volchok, was found in his hotel room in Tijuana a couple of hours ago. California police wanted to question him in connection with the death of Marissa Cooper in a car crash last month". It was official, Volchok was dead and Ryan and Luke were responsible.

Four days later….

Ryan and Luke prepared to fly back to Newport. They knew they would probably have police waiting for them when they got back to Newport, wanting to know where they were and what they were doing on the night Volchok died. They agreed on their story and that if they didn't stick to it, they could both go down. They were going to tell the police that they got into a fight with him and they acted in self defence, which wasn't too far from the truth.

Sure enough, the moment they landed a policeman said: "Mr Atwood, Mr Ward, we'd like to talk to you two in connection with the death of Kevin Volchok". With that they were handcuffed and taken away.


	4. Police Questioning

A/N: Sorry it's taken a little while to update, but I was on holiday last week so I haven't been able to update before then. I've noticed I've so far got 409 hits but only 2 reviews!? Please, please review when you read this, because in future the quicker I get reviews, the quicker I will update, otherwise I won't feel like it's worth it

Luke and Ryan were bundled into the back of separate police cars, just to make sure they couldn't speak to each other on the way to the station. One was held in custody while the other was being questioned. They both knew it was looking bad for them, they were there when he died and they both had a motive. Not only that, but Ryan's fingerprints were all over the bottle.

They had already gone over their story on the plane so they knew exactly what they were going to say. Sure enough they both gave the same story. They went to see him, they got into a fight, he was holding onto Ryan so he grabbed the bottle to shake Volchok off. Luke also mentioned that it was him that called the ambulance. The police needed to make sure Luke's story checked out so they checked his phone records. Sure enough 911 was called at 9.13pm, 10 minutes before paramedics found Volchok's body.

The police prevented them from seeing each other all day. Both of them were feeling the pressure, but for very different reasons. Luke had never been in this situation before. Yes he was questioned about the fire at the model home, but here he was facing a homicide charge. As for Ryan, he thought he had escaped all this when he left Chino. His entire life in Newport was meant to get away from trouble with police, but this was worse than he had faced before. Fortunately, he had the finest lawyer in Newport to back him up. He asked to make a phone call and rang Sandy. He said: "You gotta help me, I'm in deep, deep shit here. You're the only person that can help me". Sandy replied: "OK, stay calm I'm on my way". With that Sandy hung up and got to his car as soon as he possibly could. He didn't even tell Kirsten and Seth he was going. They were fully aware of what was going on, so he didn't need to- they already knew.

Ryan got the policeman to inform Luke that a lawyer had been called. Sandy spoke to Luke first and said: "There was blood on your clothes which they can prove is Volchok's, your record is clean so you should get off no problem". "What about Ryan?" Luke asked, clearly worried about what was going to happen. Sandy replied: "Ryan's case is more complicated. Yes he will also have Volchok's blood on him, but he hit Volchok with the bottle, so we will need to prove self-defence on his part, but I will do everything in my power to make sure he gets released without charge. Sandy then looked at his watch and said to Luke: "They have 16 hours to either bail you two or charge you. I would expect you'll get bail at the very least. They may have to bail Ryan to".

The police then needed to know how Ryan and Luke knew where to find him. They were faced with a big dilemma, they would either implicate Julie and possibly save themselves, or not involve Julie and go down for homicide. Ryan decided the truth had to be told. "Marissa's mother, Julie Cooper, hired a Private Investigator to find out where he went. We went to a bar where he worked and got the name of his hotel and the number of his room.

Luke and Ryan were left in custody overnight while the police sifted through all of the evidence they had so far

Luke: Traces of Volchok's blood were found on him and vice-versa, indicating a struggle. Had a motive for killing him. Clean criminal record

Ryan: Traces of Volchok's blood found on him, no traces of his blood on Volchok. Had a motive for killing him. Previous convictions for car theft and assault

8.00am the following morning, 19 hours after arrest

In only a few hours they had to make decisions, but they had already been made. One would be bailed pending further enquiries but the other would be released without charge


	5. Judgement

Tough Decisions

The police had already made up their mind they were going to release Luke, but wanted to question Ryan further. However, a second look at forensic tests carried out on the gun found in Volchok's room showed two sets of fingerprints, one belonging to Volchok, but the other actually belonged to Luke, meaning Ryan never had possession of the gun.

This threw the police as it meant they had to change the investigation with time running out before they had to either charge or release both of them. They then did tests on the broken bottle which was used to kill Volchok. They found Ryan's prints on it. They had to re-question both Luke and Ryan with the new evidence they had found.

Luke's re-questioning

Officer: "We've found a gun with two sets of fingerprints on it, one belonging to you, how do you explain this Mr Ward?"

Luke: "Volchok picked up the gun and fired it at me, he missed by a few inches and I went to grab it. I managed to wrestle it out of his hand and put the safety on to make sure it didn't go off again- that's how my prints were on it"

Officer: "How do you explain the broken bottle we found in the room containing Mr Atwood's fingerprints?"

Luke: "Volchok was strangling me so Ryan grabbed the first thing he could find to get him off me, which was the bottle. If he hadn't Volchok would almost certainly have killed me"

Ryan's re-questioning

Officer: "Why have we found your fingerprints on the bottle used to kill Mr Volchok?"

Ryan: "He was strangling Luke and it looked as if he was going to kill him so I grabbed the nearest thing I could find, which was the bottle. I just swung it and it hit him"

Officer: "Can you explain how we found Mr Ward's fingerprints on the same gun as Mr Volchok?"

Ryan: "Volchok fired the gun, Luke got it out of his hands. He then put the safety on so it wouldn't go off"

The stories matched up perfectly, almost too perfectly for the police's liking. However, there was nothing else they could do and they had no choice other than to release both of them without charge and drop the case against them.

Sandy picked them up from the station and said: "I knew you two were innocent, it was just a matter of time before you proved it". He then turned to Luke and said to him: "Why don't you stay with us for a few nights". Luke replied: "Thanks Mr Cohen, that would be great".

With that they then went back home, relieved that the whole saga was finally over


End file.
